Asheboro family loses father, son to COVID-19

Wednesday

ASHEBORO — Near the end of March, Asheboro residents Donna Hunt and her husband, Ronald Hunt, were at a campground with their three adult children.

An occasion where they were able to get all the children together was rare, according to Donna, and she was happy to have them all together in her and Ronald’s camper.

When Donna’s husband began running a fever that Saturday, March 28, she said she didn’t suspect COVID-19. She figured it was some type of virus, similar to one she’d had and gotten over the month before.

Just to be safe, she had Ronald stay in their room in the camper. When he used the camper’s only bathroom, she would wipe it down afterwards.

"I kept him pretty much isolated from everyone."

They drove home from the campground on Sunday with Ronald, who had high blood pressure and was diabetic, still feeling feverish. To keep her distance, Donna decided she would stay out in the other camper they kept on their property at home. Ronald would stay inside and she would bring him food, medicine and check on him, but she wanted to maintain as much distance as she could to avoid contracting whatever illness he had.

They waited until Monday before contacting a doctor. Ronald went in and was administered a rapid flu test, which came back negative. Since his symptoms aligned with those of the coronavirus, he was tested, but the results would take days to be returned.

"He kept complaining of a lower abdominal pain," said Donna, which led them, at a doctor’s recommendation, to head to the Emergency Room at Randolph Health to have a CT scan.

Ronald said he could drive himself to the hospital, but Donna followed behind in her car, making sure he made it there okay. Before arriving, she called ahead and warned the hospital that he’d been tested for COVID-19.

"They immediately took him to a negative pressure room," she said.

Donna said Ronald called and she was able to speak to him a bit. A CT scan revealed a small tear in his intestine — thought to be caused during some heavy lifting he’d done during yard work days before — and the X-ray "was indicative of COVID-19 in his lungs." That night, he was transported to Wesley Long Hospital in Greensboro.

Harlen’s battle

The same night Ronald was hospitalized, Donna received a call from her mother-in-law, Illa. Illa told Donna that Harlen, Ronald’s father, hadn’t been feeling well, either.

Donna called her father-in-law’s doctor, who advised that Harlen, who had a pacemaker and heart defibrillator, be taken to the Emergency Room. A CT scan indicated that Harlen had a GI bleed and his chest X-ray, like his son’s, revealed signs of COVID-19.

"He was taken to Wesley Long the same night," said Donna, and his condition quickly deteriorated.

On Saturday, April 4, Harlen Hunt, who was 83 years old, passed away. With strict hospital visitation rules, no loved ones were permitted into the hospital to tell him goodbye.

According to Harlen’s obituary, he was born on Aug. 5, 1936, "the son of the late William Everette Hunt and Claudie Tero Trotter Hunt. He was retired from Luck’s Inc. and a member of Antioch Baptist Church. He was a hardworking and outspoken man who cared deeply for his family."

Donna said an hour and half before his death, a nurse at Wesley Long called her mother-in-law to let her speak to Harlen one last time.

The virus spreads

The night before her father-in-law passed away, Donna started running a fever.

"They swabbed me on Friday morning and found out I was positive on Sunday."

That Monday, her mother-in-law also began running a fever, and following a test, she, too, was confirmed positive for COVID-19. Donna lived in the camper on her and Ronald’s property for some time, her mother-in-law inside their home, trying to keep distance since they were in different stages of the virus. They stayed isolated, unable to immediately have a funeral for Harlen. They would have to wait until they were both cleared of the virus before they could bury him.

All the while, Ronald remained in the hospital. There’d been news he was improving, but on April 2, two days before his father’s death, Ronald was put on a ventilator. He wasn’t doing well.

Almost everyday, Donna said she would call a nurse at the hospital. They would lay the phone by Ronald and let her speak to him, though he couldn’t respond.

"They were all just so great," Donna said of the nurses. "I couldn’t have asked for better care for him."

On April 25, the day after they were finally able to have Harlen’s funeral service, both Donna and Illa having been given a clean bill of health, there were plans in place with the hospital for Donna to be able to visit her husband that next morning.

But that day before she would have been able to see Ronald, a nurse at Wesley Long called her.

"They said he was struggling to breathe," said Donna. A nurse practitioner had called earlier and told her that, should Ronald live through the virus, he wouldn’t have much of a life afterwards.

"I’d already made up my mind and knew in my heart he’d picked his own date," said Donna.

After the phone call, Ronald was taken off the ventilator. The nurse called Donna back and laid the phone beside Ronald, giving her and Ronald’s mother a chance to say goodbye.

Donna added her children to the call, and each of them were able to say goodbye and tell their father they loved them.

"Our 3-year-old granddaughter got on the phone and said she loved him," said Donna.

Just after his granddaughter told him she loved him, the nurse got back on the phone and told the family Ronald was gone.

Remembering Ronald

According to his obituary, Ronald Hunt, who was 52 at passing, "was employed as a supervisor at Technimark Plant 5. He was formerly employed with Midstate Plastic/Moll. He loved deer hunting, smoking the meat and sharing it with friends. He enjoyed camping and loved his family, especially his grandchildren."

Donna said Hunt was so looking forward to spending time with his twin grandchildren, just born in January. "He was looking forward to teaching them to hunt, smoke meat," said Donna.

The family will be holding a funeral for Ronald Thursday, April 30. Like with Harlen’s funeral, the service will be small. Only groups of around eight or ten people are allowed to attend the service while the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing.

Donna said she wouldn’t wish what she and her family have endured on anyone. In addition to Ronald and Harlen, two other family members have passed in April, though not of COVID-19.

She urges everyone to keep in mind how deadly the virus is.

For those who are diabetic or have high blood pressure, she said they need to be extra cautious. Ronald also had sleep apnea, and through his hospital stay, she was informed that sleeping with a CPAP machine can make the virus worse, a fact they weren’t made aware of prior to his hospitalization.

"If I can just help keep one family from having to go through what I’ve been through, it’ll be worth my time."

In memory of Harlen and in honor of his dog, Aerie, donations may be made to the Randolph County Animal Shelter, 1370 County Land Road, Randleman, NC 27317. Memorials for Ronald may be made to American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA, 11454.

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